


reach into the heavens just to share the view

by aphwhales



Category: Homestuck
Genre: ...sort of, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Benign Plants Blooming From People, Communication Issues, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, POV Alternating, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-06-05 01:03:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15159014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aphwhales/pseuds/aphwhales
Summary: Soulmates have matching flowers on their hands, and your soulmate's flowers bloom in your hair when you fall in love.Some people, like Dirk, have what's considered a "normal" amount of soulmates: one.Others, like Roxy and Jane, have two.And then there's Jake, with three.Somehow they all end up rooming together for their next year of college.





	reach into the heavens just to share the view

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jakebot_Archive](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jakebot_Archive/gifts).



Your soulmate’s flower is on your right hand, pale green and bell shaped, and when you looked it up in the library as a child, you found out it was called bells of Ireland. You hadn’t known flowers could be green, except when you did that trick with white roses or carnations and colored water.

The flower had shown up on your eighth birthday, as many do. Your own flower, the one that would bloom on your soulmate, that they would have on their own non dominant hand, is a orange honeysuckle. The blossoms on your hand that represent them aren’t too troublesome, thankfully. 

The buds in your hair already do, and probably will for the rest of your life, though. They aren’t _that_ troublesome, but you’d like to be able to shower and get dressed without small leaves falling to the ground in your wake. 

You’ll live with it, though, as annoying as it can be. You only hope your soulmate is a dude - you’re not sure you could stomach being romantically involved with a girl for your whole life. 

You don’t know why you’re thinking of this, especially since you’re trying to finish a craigslist ad for roommates. You proofread it quickly, and hit send, hoping to god you don’t get stuck with anyone as pretentious as the guy you had as a roomate last year. 

~

You write with your right hand, so that’s where your flower is. It’s pale blue - a forget-me-not, according to your father. He always said it was a lovely flower for a lovely girl. Your younger brother had always made a face at that, and then proceeded to complain about his own flower - blue delphinium. The meaning is nice, at least - big hearted and joyful. Forget-me-nots are alright, you suppose, but the meaning is a little more… solemn, you guess. True and undying love, loyalty - definitely less lighthearted, now that you think about it. 

You don’t think about it much. More often, you think about the two flowers on your left hand - a green, tall one called bells of Ireland, and a big, flat pink one with a long yellow spadix called anthurium. They have nice meanings: bells of Ireland are meant to be lucky, and anthurium represents happiness. You wonder what your soulmates are like, to have those kinds of flowers. 

Scratching boredly at the stem of the anthurium, you lean closer to your laptop screen and squint. You’re supposed to figure out your roommate situation by the end of the week; otherwise, you have to contact your school and get a roommate in the dorms. You hated the dorms.

At the very bottom of the page, recently published by someone named TT, is an ad to rent an old house with three other people. Four rooms, one bathroom, and pet friendly - you glance at Seb laying on your desk. Then, you click the ad and read the rest. 

Junior at Skaia University looking for roommates. Four bedrooms, one bathroom, pet friendly, LGBT+ friendly. Email for more info.

What a barebones ad! But you could use a pet friendly place and your own room. You email the guy who posted the ad (and you totally didn’t have to google “Timaeus” to figure out what his email address meant), save it, and tell yourself you’ll send it in the morning.

~

Your gran always told you how lucky you were to have three soulmates, and that’s why the meaning of your flower is luck. Your grandpa would snort and not say anything, but you think he knew what would happen. 

Most people don’t like the idea of someone having more than one soulmate. You, of course, are the unlucky sod who has three soulmates, three kinds of flowers blooming on your hand, and a mess of buds ringing your head because of it. It’s terrible.

Your flower is bells of Ireland - tall, green, and supposedly lucky. Lucky enough to be the idiot with anxiety and communication issues and three soulmates. Maybe the “lucky” part is sarcasm. 

Your soulmates all have brightly colored flowers, and they cover your entire left hand. Orange honeysuckles bloom just below your knuckles, pink anthurium sprouts on the junction of your thumb and your hand, and forget-me-nots sprinkle across the rest. The worst part is how much they stand out because of your dark skin - it’s so easy to notice them, even from far away. 

You duck your head behind your laptop slightly as someone walks past you - you couldn’t bear to be at home any longer, but Starbucks is almost worse. You should’ve gone to the library or something, but you figured you were less likely to be bothered here. You need to find a place to live for next year - there were too many people in the dorms, and sharing a room stressed you out. 

You end up hastily replying to an ad by someone named TT before heading home. You only hope you’re in time to snag your own room, since he said there were four. 

~

Yikes. You probably should have combed your hair before showering, because now there are little purplish-blue buds all over the shower floor. There are a few tall green ones too, but it’s mostly little forget-me-not buds. The bells of Ireland buds tend to be a little tougher, but they get stuck in your hair waaay worse than the forget-me-nots. 

You end up spending half an hour combing little buds out of your hair - you really need to redye it, actually. You can see your dark roots, and the pink tips are gone. Damn. You really liked that shade of pink, and you don’t remember what brand of hair dye you used. 

Rose bangs on the door, and then comes in. You scrunch your nose and drag your towel and your wounded dignity to your room. You end up sitting at your desk, tits out no matter how small they be, and drinking cold coffee while surfing craigslist. Your roommate from last year is rooming with her girlfriend this year, so you need a new roommate. 

There aren’t a lot of ads for this area - one by your old roommates sweaty friend, one by her girlfriend’s ex - yikes. There’s one at the very bottom that says ONE ROOM LEFT.

You jump on it. Hopefully this dude and the people who claimed the other two rooms don’t mind that you have two soulmates.

~

Move in day is today. It’s hot, though cooler than the Texan summers that you’re used to, and you’re waiting for the other people renting this house with you to show up. For now, you pile your shit into a corner of the living room and hope they arrive soon so you can all work out who’s sleeping where. 

There’s a bang at the door, and a guy explodes in. He’s cute, you won’t deny that - short and muscular, with bright green eyes and messy hair full of buds. So he’s single. Nice. He’s carrying a stack of three boxes. 

“Howdy!” He greets you cheerfully with a firm handshake. “I’m Jake English.” 

“Dirk Strider,” you reply. “We gotta wait for the other two before we claim rooms - don’t want anyone to complain later on.”

“Oh, yes, that’d be terrible.” 

You end up sitting on the ratty couch with him for an hour, noting that his flower matches yours. He’s got a bright pink one covering most of what you can see of his other hand, though. Too bad, you suppose.

An hour later, a girl bounds in - taller than both you and Jake, with hair that starts dark, goes bleach blonde, and then ends pink, and wearing leg warmers in the fucking New York summer. Someone’s crazy. “Hey! I’m Roxy!” 

“Hey,” you parrot back.  
“How’s it going?” Jake chirps. 

The last girl walks in mid-introduction - shorter than you, but around Jake’s height, with red framed glasses and curly hair. “Hello.” 

“And you must be Jane,” you say. When she nods, you tell everyone, “Room claimin’ time.” 

~

It’s not bad, living here. It’s a short walk to campus, and to the town a few blocks away. You’re always covered in cat hair, though, and the bathroom tends to smell like bleach from Roxy dying her hair, but it’s fine. 

There are five cats here, and it honestly looks like it. Jake and Dirk don’t have the energy to clean most days, you don’t have the time, and Roxy, despite being a chem major, doesn’t have a very good grasp on cleaning chemicals and is banned from using any bleach not meant for hair, unless under supervision. 

But it’s good. You like it.  
Now if only you’d never noticed that Jake has forget-me-nots among the flowers on his left hand, and bells of Ireland on his right. 

~

Everything is awkward and you hate it. 

Well, you’re making it awkward, really. You’re not sure anyone’s noticed your flowers, but you’ve seen the bells of Ireland on everyone else’s hands. Dirk’s is most noticeable - he only has one soulmate. Roxy doesn’t have the anthurium on her left hand that Jane has, so you can see your pale green easily on her hand. 

What a mess. Four people in one house, and apparently you’re destined to be with three of them. Or, based on everyone else’s flowers - you’ll be with all of them, and Jane and Roxy will be together in addition. And then you’ll feel bad because Dirk is left out. 

Everything is a mess and you don’t like people anyway, why did you get stuck with three soulmates?!

 

~

The forget-me-not buds in your hair are starting to bloom, and you can see some of the buds on Jane’s head beginning to bloom, too. Yikes. You hope she likes girls. 

Well, actually, she must, because your matching are blooming! What are you worrying about it for? But she’s hella cute, and her hips and shoulders are soft as fuck. Friend cuddles are a thing, because you’re all a mess. Friend cuddles are the best, hell fuckin’ yes. 

Dirk is really cute, too, but he only has one flower on his non-dominant hand as opposed to two like you or Jane, or three like Jake. And all three of you have Jake’s flower. That’s gonna be messy. 

Or maybe not. Maybe everything will be fine!

You doubt it, though. Dirk and Jake are huge messes, and Jane is shy as fuck. You got your shit together, except for doing your reading for bio chem and one of your comp sci classes. You’re hella good at bullshitting, though. Professors haven’t got a clue.

Yet, anyway. 

~

One of the long flowers in your hair is blooming. It stands out green against your ginger bangs and you give up trying to hide it. 

You aren’t even sure when you fell in love with Jake.  
(You hope to god it’s Jake; You really hope you don’t know anyone else with bells of Ireland on their dominant hand.) 

Roxy and Jane are avoiding each other, sort of; shy smiles and mumbles, and it’s a little awkward, but you’re happy to see the little flecks of blue against Roxy’s neapolitan ice cream hair, and the big spots of pink in Jane’s short curls.

They also both happen to have early classes today. And that’s where your problem comes in. Jake is already at the kitchen table when you sneak in - he hasn’t noticed you, yet, he’s wiping his glasses on his shirt. 

There are big orange honeysuckles blooming around his head. 

~

Roxy corners you after your last class - it gets out only twenty minutes after hers. You have an urge to scratch the anthurium stems growing from your head as she pulls you aside. 

“What’s our deal?” She asks you, perfectly casual as she digs in her bag for a granola bar. “We’ve got matching flowers blooming, so I was just wondering.” 

You like Roxy. You like her a lot. She’s very funny, and she always knows what to say to cheer you or Dirk or Jake up. She always comes to you for makeup advice and you like helping her with her eyeliner. It’s nice to see her smiling. 

Yeah, this is probably why the anthurium on your head have bloomed. “I. I like you. A lot.” 

Roxy grins. “I like you too!” She chirps. “We should go on a date or somethin’. Movie without the boys tonight?” 

“Sure. What about…” You gesture to the matching bells of Ireland on your left hands. 

“He had a honeysuckle blooming on his head when I left this morning,” Roxy says, low and conspiratorially. “Somethin’s goin’ on with him and Dirky, wink wonk.” 

You roll your eyes, and squeak when she kisses your cheek unexpectedly. 

~

There were honeysuckles blossoming, big and orange around the other buds in your hair, when you woke up today. At first, you thought your eyes were getting worse, honestly, but they stayed when you put your glasses on and came into sharp focus. 

Well. That’s one soulmate down, you suppose. Two to go. 

You brush your hair _very carefully_. It’s still as knotted and curly as ever and you give up after your brush pulls out a string of delicate orange petals. How do people deal with this? 

Actually, they probably don’t let their hair get this knotty in the first place. Whoops.

You end up remedying this with a shower in the afternoon, and when you go into the living room, only Dirk is there. There are a few take out boxes scattered on the table, and shitty fake chopsticks sticking out of his mouth. 

“Hey,” he greets you, nearly choking on whatever’s in his mouth. “I got Chinese.” 

“Oh, cool.” You make absolutely no move to go to the coffee table and pick up the order of lo mein he got you. 

Dirk pulls the chopsticks out of his mouth and stabs them into his half-full pint of shrimp fried rice. “You gonna sit?” 

“Um. Sure. Are the girls joining us?” 

“Nah. They’re on a date.” 

You blink. “With who?”

Dirk shrugs. “They have matching flowers.” This _should_ segue into a conversation about your own matching flowers. It doesn’t, and you end up sitting silently with Dirk and eating your dinner while watching Seinfeld instead, because you’re both idiots.

~ 

You take Jane out for good old New York pizza, and then you drag her to see whatever romcom the local theatre is playing. It’s fun. And more importantly, it’s a DATE, and you guys are on it! 

She seems pretty excited, which is great, because, YOU’RE super excited too! Out of the two you knew you’d end up with after seeing their flowers on move-in day, Jane was waaaay easier to get along with. You loved Jake a helluva lot, but sometimes he got a little mopey, and also sometimes you just need some girl time. 

Jane holds your hand as you walk home. “Do you think the boys have solved their predicament?”

“Honestly?” When Jane nods, you snort. “No fuckin’ way. They’re so bad at communicating. Good thing Dirk has friends like us, and Jake’s got two soulmates who are so frickin’ good at communicating that they’ll get it down.”

Jane giggles. “I sure hope so. Dirk really likes him.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Mm hm. He didn’t seem to realize it. I don’t think any of us realized we were falling in love, actually.” Jane replies thoughtfully.

“Hm… Sounds like the plot of a romance novel. I like it. Watch, tomorrow Jakey’ll be covered in flowers, and you and I will have bells of Ireland all over us like Dirk. It’s gonna be a mess. Ha.” 

Jane hums and leans against your shoulder. “I sure hope it won’t be a mess, but it would be funny, I suppose.” 

~

You lie awake that night, green petals just inside your peripheral vision. You have no idea what to do about this, and the matching honeysuckles in Jake’s hair. 

Roxy and Jane had come back late, and sure enough, Jane had anthurium in her hair, and Roxy had a sprinkling of forget-me-nots in hers. Strangely enough (or maybe not, considering Jake), there were still buds in their hair. 

You startle from your reverie when someone knocks on your door. You think about pretending to be asleep, but eventually just groan, “What?” 

Jake sticks his head in and floods your room with light from the hallway. “Can we talk?” The honeysuckles are bright with the light behind them. 

“Uh. Sure, dude. What’s up?” 

Jake closes the door behind him, and sits on the foot of your bed, twiddling his thumbs for a few minutes. “I. Roxy said we should talk about,” and he motions to the crown of his head. 

“No shit,” you reply, finally sitting up, pulling your knees to your chest. “I talked to Jane earlier. She said she didn’t realize she was falling in love with Roxy. Guess that’s what happened with us, too.” 

Jake nods and fists his hands in his lap. “I just feel odd. Because I have three soulmates, you know?” 

“Yeah, I could see that.” 

“But I know I like you.” Jake mumbles. “I know I want to see you happy.” 

You knock your forehead against his shoulder. “I want you to be happy to, bro. And I want the girls to be happy, too, so I guess you get three soulmates and I get to live with my soulmate and my two best friends. It’s a win-win-win-win.” 

Jake snorts. “Thanks, Dirk.” And he kisses the tip of your nose before leaving you to sleep. 

~

Jake English could be a model. You don’t know how you didn’t realize that before. 

For some stupid fundraiser, you’ve filled a kiddie pool with ice water, and Jake and a friend of Roxy’s named Rufioh are sitting in it for as long as possible. This involves seeing Jake shirtless.  
Roxy was, evidently, prepared. You and Dirk were not. Dirk is still wheezing as he helps you cart ice from the cafeteria. 

“Are you going to be alright?” You ask with a snort. “Don’t you see that all the time?”

“I forget,” Dirk replies. The bells of Ireland on his head are in full bloom, as are the anthurium on yours. “It took me off guard.”

You snort again and drag the ice cart over a bump in the sidewalk. “I wonder when my bells will bloom,” you say offhandedly. 

“Bored of Roxy?” Dirk asks with a good natured smirk. 

“Tired of you hogging Jake, actually,” you reply. “No, really I just want to get to the cutesy domestic stuff. Like what I have with Roxy. And what you have with Jake. Sharing a bed, kissing in the morning, et cetera, et cetera.”

“Well, damn, Jane, you’re stealing my soulmate.” Dirk says with mock hurt. 

“You can share the bed. We’ll cuddle, unless that’s too close to a girl for you.” Dirk just laughs and throws some ice at you. 

~

The anthurium on your head is blooming. You don’t know when that happened.  
It’s bright and pink against the small buds of forget-me-nots you still have, and next to the bright orange of Dirk’s honeysuckles. 

It was really, really obvious that this would happen, but you still weren’t really ready for this eventuality. 

You love Roxy, you really do. Next thing you know, though, it’ll be Jane, and then you’ll be covered head to toe in bright flowers. And you aren’t sure how Dirk will feel about that. 

You sneak into the kitchen while Dirk and Roxy are making pancakes a little later. Dirk’s bells are in full bloom atop his head, and Roxy’s are just starting, only slightly taller than Jane’s forget-me-nots. There’s that, you suppose. 

“Good morning, Jake.” You jump out of your skin. You forgot about the fourth member of your household. Jane is standing behind you, the only one of you dressed for the day. Roxy turns first, and grins brightly. 

“Morning!” She rushes over and kisses Jane with an exaggerated “mwah!” sound. You take the chance to slip towards Dirk, still manning the griddle carefully. 

Dirk smiles at you. “Hey.” 

You can’t bring yourself to smile back. Dirk frowns at you, then puts a hand on your shoulder. As he turns the griddle off, he calls to the girls, “Emergency household meeting.” 

~

“I thought we only had these for like. Late rent, ‘nd shit like that,” You groan, laying against Jane’s side. Jake is fidgety on your other side, and Dirk is controlling the proceedings, supposedly. Right now, though, he’s downing an entire bottle of decaf orange soda. 

“This is important.” Dirk tells you, ever a man of few words. 

“Important enough that you couldn’t let me eat first, and also like. Get dressed and get my boobs on?” 

“Roxy!” Jane interjects. 

“I need my boobs, babe! Estrogen hasn’t helped me at all!”

“Take mine,” Dirk replies deadpan. “Anyway. Jake.” 

Jake is still fidgeting. You had noticed when Jane came down that he had your flower blooming on his head - and now, as you look, little forget-me-nots are sprouting as well. 

“Jane, oh my god,” you giggle. “Does pitying people when they’re sad make you fall in love with them?” Jane shakes her head and reaches out to hold onto Jake’s hand. 

“You know we’re all cool with this, right?” Jane asks. Jake nods. 

“Logically? Yes.” Jake sniffs a bit. Dirk shifts from his spot on the floor to wrap an arm around Jake. “But sometimes I feel like. Like I’ll make one of you feel bad?” 

“Nah, no feeling bad here.” Dirk tells him. 

“We are all feelin’ hella good here, Jakey. And we will all feel hella better if we get some food. And also a bigger bed, probably.” 

“Little spoon,” Dirk calls. 

“You, a little spoon?” Jane asks in shock.

Jake laughs, still slightly sniffly. “You’d be surprised!” The three kinds of flowers on his head are in full bloom, and so are Jane and Dirk’s. If you reached a hand up, you’re sure yours would be, too.


End file.
